I just noticed it was up earlier this evening but was nervous it would be another Netflix disaster. I don't care if they screw up some live action version of a low tier anime, but Sandman is something I want to see done correctly. I'll check it out and hope the quality holds throughout. I've started watching the first season of Peaky Blinders recently. I'm not sure why I didn't watch it until now. I'm a fan of Cillian Murphy, and the show looked pretty well constructed. I'm about 5 or 6 episodes in and have enjoyed it so far.
I finished Sandman and over all it was pretty good. They stayed faithful to the books. I think one character was changed, but that was per Neil Gaiman's request. The acting was a mixed bag. Some was excellent, like Doctor Destiny and Corinthian. Others were just average. Morpheus might be the worst, but to be fair he was written with less emotion than Edward Cullen. The special effects were good by Netflix standards, not good by HBO, but I don't think it mattered too much. I'm looking forward to the next season.
I've seen the first two episodes of House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel. So far, it's actually pretty good. I can see the activism underneath much of the plot, but up to this point most of the direction of the story makes sense on its own independent of the elements feminists are probably celebrating. This is the slightest of spoilers given the dispute over heirs is in the intro (as well as the theme of most of GoT), the opening moments of the first episode, but the gist is they tend to want male heirs and the male heir at the time of this story is essentially Euron Targaryen. He's not quite the bloodthirsty psycho Euron was in that he does care for his close family members, particularly his niece who he actually shows some genuine kindness and consideration towards, but otherwise it's not far off. No one in their right mind wants this guy in charge, so breaking with tradition and appointing a female heir who seems like someone with a lot of leadership potential just makes sense and isn't just some activist "girl power" moment despite the actors involved relishing the social justice elements. As long as they keep that activist bullshit out of the story or at least be mostly impartial the way The Boys is usually able to accomplish, it could be a very good series. The first two episodes were much better than I expected, especially considering some of the feminist crap I've read from the actors involved. Some will see the pacing as slow, which I think was due to trying to clue people into some of the history if they didn't see the original GoT series. It's definitely not as good as GoT seasons 1 through 7.5, but it's way better than 7.5 through 8. It looks great. Impressive effects. The actors are pretty talented. I hope the whole season is at least as good as the first two episodes.
The Shrink Next Door True story about a scam artist psychiatrist who brainwashed and stole from his patients. A little slow to get going but pretty good overall.
The end of Game of Thrones fell off a cliff because they ran out of source material. Fire and Blood was published 4 years ago, and this has different people involved. Benioff and Weiss aren't involved with House of the Dragon, nor should they be. House of the Dragon, or Hot D, was created by Ryan Condal and George R.R. Martin himself.
I think casting an older version of Rhaenyra for the second half of the season is going to be one of the biggest mistakes of the series. I'd consider doing delays and reshoots to keep Milly. She is one of the strongest castings in Game of Thrones since Emilia Clarke and Peter Dinklage. Her defiant stroll through camp after her little outdoors adventure was my favorite moment in the prequel series so far. I'd never heard of her prior to House of the Dragon, but she is the best actor in the series currently. Maybe I'm overreacting; I've read the other Rhaenyra is a good actress. This just seems like Milly Alcock is working out so well in this role you don't want to recast someone like this.
House of the Dragon Season 1 has concluded, and it has been an exceptional show. I'd definitely avoid any spoilers if you're still stewing over the last couple of seasons of Game of Thrones and refusing to watch. HoT D is getting up there with the first 6 seasons of GoT. The last few episodes were fantastic. The more direct involvement of George R.R. Martin is apparent and should have been the case for Game of Thrones. One of the main characters, Daemon, is also Martin's personal favorite Targaryan. This is probably the best show out right now, and they deserve a truckload of casting awards, among the best casting jobs I've seen in years. I still wish Milly Alcock had more than 5 episodes, as she was incredible as young Rhaenyra, but the entire season was superb.
I watched one Episode of Dahmer. It was interesting, but I'm not going to finish the season. It's got a morbid curiosity thing going for it, but I'm not in the mood for something that dark. I watch the whole season of She-Hulk. I liked it right up till the ending. Smashing the 4th wall kind of ruined it for me.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power It's better than I expected. It start kind of slow, but it picks up after a few episodes.
I despised Rings of Power. The Peter Jackson movies were among my favorite movies and the books are among my favorite books.
The English 7.5/10 I recently watched the 6-episode Western series The English, starring Emily Blunt. The story ended up being more powerful and moving than I expected by the end. It's only 6 episodes long; I watched it in two sittings, 3 each. Interestingly, Emily Blunt is quite allergic to horses and other animals and had to be medicated throughout in addition to wearing restrictive corsets that were probably unpleasant particularly in hot weather on horseback. I'm impressed with her versatility jumping from action, sci-fi, mysteries, horror movies, and now a Western series.
Willow. It's not amazing or anything, but they did bring back a lot of the cast from the movie. So it's got the nostalgia factor.